Louisiana Libraries

The Union Parish Library has numerous books, opportunities and services that patrons need to know about and I learned a lot by being an intern for the Union Parish Library. My first week was an introductory lesson from Director, Stephanie Herrmann about their library services and what to write about for the week. 

Monday Meet Usallowed for me to interview a staff member and do a story about them which allowed for me to know them better because they shared their hobbies and how long they have been working at the library. Each employee liked different genres of books and also had a favorite book in mind. Lisa Preaus was the only employee that liked True Crime novels. The staff also told me their favorite book when they were a child such as Stephanie Herrmann reading the Trixie Belden books by Julie Campbell Tatham. Christopher Carey’s job is to keep the computers running and he told me that he was a surfer in the 1960’s. 

Jessica Hart who is part of the outreach staff that reads to the students throughout the parish mentioned that she was one of the last babies to be born in Union General Hospital. I enjoyed hearing them tell their personal stories because it made the interview more fun. I remember seeing Jo Ann Buggs on the bookmobile and at the library when I was a teenager. She has worked at the library for 21 years which was something I did not know. Sandy Dean is never in a bad mood because she likes to smile and Betty Frazier loves everything about the library which was one thing she told me. 

Tuesday Travelswas a category where I wrote about the places that the bookmobile went too and the programs that help the elderly and students. My favorite was knowing where each of the Little Free Libraries are located throughout the parish. I did not know that there were 20 Little Free Libraries for patrons to leave a book, take a book or return a book which is very good for rural communities to have. Patti Odom showed me what a Makerspace (STEM) kit is and looking at it made me wish I used one in school because the kids can build things using cardboard legos. One of the most unique programs that the Union Parish Library provides is the Talking Books Programwhich provides braille, cassette, digital cartridge and large print materials to patrons that live in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers throughout the parish.

I did not know that 50 individuals living in Union Parish received the Talking Books Program to their place of residence. Judy Lewis does a good job with that program and she told me a lot. 

One of my favorite hobbies is reading and the Wednesday Word became one of my favorite categories to do because I wrote numerous books reviews of one of their selected books during a special month like Black History Month, Youth Art Month and National Poetry Month. 

The Journey of 16 Extraordinary Black Soulsbook was very fascinating to me because it was a collective biography of sixteen diverse African American men and women who made the world a better place. 100 Artists Who Changed the World contained the biographies that described the accomplishments of the most talented painters who accomplished a lot for their countries and people today still adore their paintings.

A Ballad of the West: Secrets of the Fleece Lakota looked at the facts and poems of the wild west and the mountain men and Native Americans that tamed it. One of my favorite books that I really enjoyed writing about was Dangerous Prayers: 50 Powerful Prayers that Changed the World because the historical figures went through a lot for their Christian faith. Christian-themed books are a favorite genre of mine to read.

Thursday Technology is a category that I wrote about the technology that the library offers to patrons. My favorite was being able to access Ancestry Library because I can access it for free as long as I access the link on http://www.unionparishlibrary.com.Friday Fiction is a category where I wrote about numerous genres of fiction which includes a book review. The General Fiction genre is another one of my favorites because I mentioned about The Last of the Mohicans which is a historical novel written by James Fenimore Cooper. I did not know very much about the Romancegenre, but I did read Ivanhoe which is a very good book! 

The only genres that I never used before are the audios and large-print books. Researching both of those genres made me interested in checking out a large-print book and listening to an audio like Hamlet.  I did not know that the large-print books were printed in Waterville Maine and has been in the printing business for more than 30 years. Reading large print books helps reduce eye strain and helps calm the nerves.

The Union Parish Library has 16 public access computers and I have observed patrons on the computer applying for jobs, doing their taxes and homeschool moms helping their children do their lessons. Sandra Slaton helped patrons with their tax forms online and is very knowledgeable.

The Union Parish Library celebrated Black History Month with the theme African Americans in Medicine by having guest speakers share their stories of pursuing healthcare careers. There were also fascinating displays of African American personnel who made the world a better place like Dr. Charles Drew who was an early innovator in blood transfusions. March was Youth Art Month and the Union Parish Library displayed an art exhibit that neighboring students did which I though was very creative. 

National Poetry Month for April was an amazing time because the Union Parish Library had a Poetry Slam Competition among 7-12 grade students where the students shared their poetry and competed for prizes.

The Union Parish Library does a good and wonderful job reaching out to their community with numerous books, services and opportunities. I was very glad to be a promoter for the Union Parish Library by writing a blog during my 300-hour internship. 

Susan Hill presents a fascinating look at Dangerous Prayers: 50 Powerful Prayers that Changed the World. Learn and explore historical figures, icons, political leaders, saints and martyrs. God can use ordinary people who pray courageous prayers to do extraordinary things for him. No matter your age, position, or status, this book will change and inspire you! Gain wisdom from the prayer lives of these brave men and women by energizing your faith.

Hill starts off by talking about Richard Allen who was the denominational founder of the African Episcopal Church. Allen was born into slavery in Philadelphia in 1760. He became a Christian at seventeen and began preaching on the plantation. 

He founded the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and Asbury dedicated the building and made Allen a deacon. One thing that I did not know was that Allen became the first African American to hold the office as bishop. His prayer starts off: “O, precious blood of my Redeemer, O, gaping wounds of my crucified Savior, who can contemplate the sufferings of God incarnate and not raise his hope and not put his trust in him?”

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany to a family of musicians. Bach learned music from his father, Johnann Ambrosius, but he later became an orphan and went to live with his older brother, Johann Christoph. He settled in Leipzig, Germany and became the musical director and choirmaster of St. Thomas Church and school. It was there that he wrote Mass in B minor, The Passion of St. John and The Passion of St. Matthew. Bach wrote 202 cantatas and he was inspired by Jesus to compose every musical piece. Here is his prayer: “Jesus help me show your glory through the music I write; may it bring you joy even as it brings joy to your people.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and author known for his resistance to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. He started the Confessing Church which denounced Nazi ideology and wrote two well-known Christian classics: The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together. Bonhoeffer was taken to a concentration camp and spent two years there before the Nazis executed him. Here is part of his prayer: “Restore me to liberty and enable me so to live now that I may answer before thee and before the world, Lord whatever this day may bring, thy name be praised.” 

John Calvin is one of the most influential Protestant theologians in Christian history. Calvin converted to Christianity after meeting Martin Luther at the University of Orleans in France. Calvin became Pastor of a Protestant church in Geneva, Switzerland, but was forced to leave because he refused to serve communion to sinful members of his congregation. The people changed their minds and invited Calvin back to Geneva where he wrote numerous books such as Institutes of the Christian Religion. 

Calvin died on May 27, 1564 and his prayer starts off: “Grant Almighty God, that as thou shinest on us by thy word, we may not be blind at midday nor willfully seek darknest.”

Amy Carmichael was born in 1867 in Belfast, Ireland. Carmichael felt the call to missions and traveled to India in 1895 to share the gospel with Indian women. One of her biggest concerns was the young girls who were vulnerable to prostitution so she founded Dohnavur Fellowship to care for those children. Carmichael died at Dohnavur in 1951 and here is her prayer: “Holy Spirit, think through me till your ideas are my ideas.” 

George Washington Carver was one of the most fascinating scientists and inventers of his time. Slave raiders kidnapped baby George, his sister and his mother and sold them in Kentucky. Moses Carver owned that family and had an agent to locate them, but he only found baby George. Moses and his wife, Susan decided to keep baby George and his brother James.

Susan educated the boys at home and George decided to begin his studies at Iowa State. Principal of the Tuskegee Institute, Booker T. Washington hired Carver to lead the schools’ agricultural department. He became known for inventing more than one hundred products which includes plastics, dyes and gasoline from the peanut plant. Carver died in 1943. Here is his prayer: “O God, I thank thee for such a direct manifestation of thy goodness, majesty and power.” 

Billy Graham has been called the evangelist of the world because during his ministry, he preached the gospel to an estimated 215-million people in more than 185 countries and territories. Graham held his first crusade in 1947 and the one in 1949 became his largest because that crusade lasted for eight weeks. Preaching the gospel was Graham’s primary calling and he also served as a spiritual advisor to Presidents and prayed with every U.S. President from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. Graham died in 2018. Here is one of his prayers: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

Jesus Christ is one of the most inspiring figures in human history. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in 4 BC and the bible mentions that he was conceived by the holy spirit and born to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1: 26-35). Joseph was Mary’s husband and served as Jesus’s earthly father. Mary and Joseph along with Jesus were forced to flee to Egypt when Herod ordered his men to murder infants under age 2. The family left Egypt after Herod died and settled in Nazareth.

Luke 3:23 mentions that Jesus’s ministry started when he was thirty. He was baptized by John the Baptist who said that “Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). The bible also mentions that Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross and on the third day, he rose from the dead. Here is one of the most well-known scriptures and my favorite: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). 

If you are interested in learning about other influential people who changed the world for the better than I suggest you stop by the Union Parish Library and check out Dangerous Prayers: 50 Powerful Prayers that Changed the World. That particular book is one of our new arrivals for 2019. It will leave you with a feeling of inspiration as you come to know these extraordinary people. 

According to the American Library Association, there were 659 bookmobiles in the United States in 2014 and Kentucky had the highest of any state with 75. The Union Parish Library has one bookmobile and two outreach staff by the names of Tinnie Martin and Jessica Hart. Janara Ferguson, Sandra Slaton and Patti Dodd are all alternates for the bookmobile services.

Today the bookmobile will be at Union Parish Elementary School from 10:00-12:00. Because of testing schedules at the schools, the bookmobile will only be visiting the schools this week picking up books and library promotional displays/exhibits from each of the four school libraries in the parish.  Last week, Union Parish Library joined together with local school librarians to promote reading fiction for fun for National Library Week.   Scooby Doo and Friends went to Union Parish Elementary School, Harry Potter and Hogwarts went to D’Arbonne Woods Charter School, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz went to Union Christian Academy, and Marvel & DC Comics went to Downsville Community Charter School.

This week as you may know is Easter and the Book Bunny will be at the Union Parish Library today at 3:00-5:00 to pass out free books so come bring your child for a free photo with the Book Bunny.  The bookmobile will also be a part of the Corney Creek Festival bringing the Book Bunny and giving out free books to all the children at the festival!  

Wednesday, the Bookmobile will be at Playhouse Two Daycare from 9:00-10:00, Mom’s Helper Daycare: 10:15-11:15 and Union Parish Elementary School (Preschool), 11:30-12:00. 

Thursday is always a busy day at the bookmobile. The bookmobile will be at the Darbonne Neighborhood Stop (Darbonne Post Office)from 8:30-8:50, Downsville Neighborhood Stop (Downsville Baptist Church): 9:00-9:25, Downsville Community Charter School: 9:35-1:30, Hwy 15 Neighborhood Stop (Corner Store): 1:40-2:00, Point Neighborhood Stop (Antley’s Store)at 2:10-2:30 and Union Parish High School from 3:00-5:00. 

The bookmobile has 18 Teen Fiction, 704 Mystery, 59 Western, 185 Science-Fiction, 165 General-Fiction, 78 Louisiana (Lagniape), 145 Romance and 143 Large Print books. Please stop by if you are in the area shopping or a student and you want to check out books! The Book Bunny will also be at the Union Parish Library on Thursday at 3:00-5:00 to pass out free books while posing for pictures! 

And one more thing, the bookmobile is now gearing up for a summer tour of the parish!  Each Wednesday the bookmobile will be making trips around the parish to various locations.  Keep your kids busy this summer no matter where you live by meeting the bookmobile in your neighborhood!   Check our Facebook page out soon for details on our summer outreach!

According to library thing, tags are a simple way to categorize books according to how you think of them.  One person will tag a novel like Gone with the Wind while another tags the book historical fiction. Tags are particularly useful for searching and sorting especially when you need a list of all your novels or all the books at your home. 

The Union Parish Library has a light housekeeper and A-tagger whose name is Mildred Washington. Washington is from Farmerville and as for reading books, she likes to read any type of books including the children’s books that she tags. Washington also remembers as a child that she had a book account and would receive books through the mail. Every employee that works at the library loved reading as a child. 

If you ask her why she likes working at the library, she will say because “she can individually work by herself. Before working at the library, she worked at the Farmerville Walmart where she stocked cosmetics, kids’ department, and groceries. The jobs that each employee had before they worked for the library are very different and unique.

Washington has worked for the Union Parish Library since 2015 and other than working at the library, she loves the outdoors because she can do her yardwork since she does her own mowing and working in her flower garden.  She has 2 grown children, 1 girl and 1 boy and she loves both of them! Other than working at the library, she loves a drive to places that she has never been too even around Farmerville! 

Washington does such a wonderful job doing what she calls light cleaning and tagging the A-books so please stop by and meet Mildred Washington and tell her hello! Be sure to come by after 11:00 because that is when she starts working. 

According to foliomag, 70 percent of adults in the U.S. read a print magazine in the last 30 days and 51 percent read at least two. The average person aged 18-25 read more than ten issues in the last month and the top 20 percent of people in that age group read more than 22 issues! 

College students are just as likely to visit websites they see in magazines because they take advantage of printed offers and promotions by giving them to their friends. Older adults are much more likely to pay for print over digital and adults age 65 and older who pay for news magazines are more likely to buy print than digital.

Are you interested in reading magazines that market to your hobbies and did you know that you could check them out? If you did then, I suggest you take a look at the magazines at the Union Parish Library. They have about 80 magazines such as Outdoor Life, Sports Illustrated, Popular Mechanics and National Geographic which are my favorites! They also have Glamour, Vogue, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living that appeals to a female audience. 

According to magazines, the first American magazines were published in 1741. Philadelphia printers Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin who owned different newspapers both raced to publish the first American magazine. Bradford ultimately claimed the honor by publishing The American Weekly Mercury first. Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine was published three days later. Neither magazine was successful because Bradford’s publication quit after three months and Franklin’s lasted only six months. Early periodicals were so expensive that only the wealthy could afford them. By the 1830’s, less expensive magazines started to circulate which focused on amusement and entertainment. 

National Geographic was founded in 1888 and it contained scientific content and colorful photos. Some of the magazine’s early revenue was used to fund scientific expeditions and today the magazine is still popular. 

William Ray DeWitt Wallace founded Reader’s Digest in 1922 and the magazine contained articles about American culture, cartoons and heartwarming stories. Reader’s Digest today is filled with health tips, recipes, funny and true stories. Better Homes & Gardens is now the fifth largest magazine in the United States and it was founded in 1923. The magazine is filled with decorating tips, entertaining ideas and gardening suggestions. Many people today love Better Homes & Gardens for its recipes and design ideas. 

TIME was America’s first weekly news magazine that was founded in 1923. The magazine still covers the top national and international stories of today. Sports Illustrated was first published in 1954 and in the 1960’s Journalist Andre Laguerre became the top assistant managing editor of the fairly new magazine and thanks to his leadership, the magazine began focusing on all major sports and today Sports Illustrated is famous for its reliable sports coverage. 

According to Magazines, the best-selling magazines are: People which features stories about celebrities. National Geographic’s old issues are still popular. Highlights is a children’s magazine designed for children ages 6-12. Southern Living is a home and garden magazine celebrating diverse cultural traditions, cuisine, gardening tips in the cities and communities that make America’s south so unique. 

Better Homes & Gardens magazines lets you turn your property into a welcoming home. Reader’s Digest has enriching stories inspired by amazing people and provides plenty of humor. One of my favorite issues of Sports Illustrated is when Drew Brees won Sportsman of the year in 2010. Popular Mechanics is a unique science and technology magazine that uncovers how the world works for readers interested in craftsmanship and innovation. Field & Stream is an outdoor sports magazine that offers readers hunting and fishing advice. 

If you are interested in reading any of the magazines that I mentioned, I suggest stopping by the Union Parish Library and check out one! These magazines will attract you into learning more about your favorite topics and you might even learn something new!

According to statista, technology and mobility have influenced every step of a consumer’s life including the way they read books. Book readers have started to change their reading habits by wanting different types of books such as e-books. An e-book is also known as an electronic or digital book which is a digitally released version of a book often consisting of text and images and available on electronic devices.

Twenty-percent of book readers in the U.S. stated they read more e-books than hard copy books. In 2018 about 26 percent of American book consumers stated they had read at least one e-book in the last twelve months. Over 172,000 e-books were published in 2014 while the most popular e-book readers today are literature and fiction. 

Do you prefer reading e-books and listening to audios instead of hard copy books or do you like trying new things? The Union Parish Library lets patrons have access to over 36,000 electronic books and audios at http://www.unionparishlibrary.com.

Click on links and arrow down until you are able to select Electronic Books and Audios. These services can be accessed from the Cloud Library App just as long as you have your library card and you have unlimited data, but if you do not, come visit the library and use our Wi-fi to get started.

If you are using an I-phone, go to the App store icon and click on search. Look for Cloud Library and select Get to Download. The download will take a few minutes and once the download is through click the Cloud Library icon on your phone. 

Tap the screen to continue and it will ask to select your country, state and library. I selected the United States for country, Louisiana for state and Union Parish for library. Click next and then you have to accept the user agreement. After you do that, it will ask you for your library card id number to login so I am going to key in my library card’s number to login.

You are now at Cloud Library and you will notice Personalized Library Cards, Easily Manage Your Account, Better Browsing of Digital Content and Manage Library Items with Ease. 

Select get started and you will notice four links: Home, My Books, Browse and Account. Home lets you click on view cards where you will notice your library card’s number. My books will show a list of the e-books and audios that you will check out. History will also list the receipts that shows the books, and audios that you will check out. Holds will lists the e-books and audios that you held while Saved will open a book’s detail and tap save for later!

Browse will let you select 238 audiobooks, historical romance has 66 e-books, teens has 71,  Kids club has 163 e-books, Real People, Real stories has 250 e-books, Seasonal has 200 e-books, and Christian Fiction has 109 e-books. 

If those are not your favorite genres to read then you can do a search. One of my favorite genres to read is Christian-themed books so I did a search. I found Action Bible New Testament that is an audio book so I clicked on borrow and I can keep it digitally until May 2^nd. I also found Ten Men of the Bible: How God Used Imperfect People to Change the World by Max Lucado. 

My other favorite genre is Classic-Fiction so I looked for The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper and clicked on borrow. The Biographical genre is another one of my favorites so I clicked on The Big Fella: Babe Ruth by Jane Leavy. 

My other favorite genre is Non-Fiction particularly American History so I clicked on What They Didn’t Teach You About the Civil War by Mike Wright. I now have 4 e-books and 1 audio that have downloaded on Cloud Library and when you get through with them, click on return before or on the day they are due. 

Account lets you click on Cards, Library Details, Notifications, Cellular Data Usage, Reader E-Book Settings, Analytics data, Help and Support and About. 

I like the Support since you can look at common issues if you are having trouble accessing your e-book. Power off your device for 30-45 seconds and then power back on and check the book back out.

Cloud Library will help you check out books and audios digitally so you can enjoy reading what you love and maybe even try something new thanks to the Union Parish Library!

Kristen LeMay presents a fascinating look at I told my soul to sing: finding God with Emily Dickinson which is divided into five sections and each section is further divided into five chapters. In each chapter, LeMay looks in depth at one of Dickinson’s poems and even her letters for the readers to enjoy so they can get a well-defined theme of what Dickinson is talking about in her poems.

LeMay starts off by taking about scripture and mentioning about Emily Dickinson’s father reading the Bible to his children, but Emily wrote to her brother Austin that “father’s prayers for you at our morning devotions are enough to break one’s heart.” Dickinson’s father gave her a Bible in 1844 when she was thirteen and Emily always made sure to reserve the capital F for the Father above and her earthly father since he gave her the Bible.

Emily’s father died many years later, but she would not take over leading the family devotions and started straying from her faith. Emily once said: “I read my Bible sometimes, don’t tell that wicked as I am, I rarely do.” This was when Emily started writing poems. “Though the great waters sleep, that they are still the deep, we cannot doubt, no vacillating God ignited this abode to put it out.” Emily loved ships, but made it clear that she was going to stay home and not travel since “the bank was the safest place for a finless mind.” 

Dickinson loved writing poems especially ones with skepticism and spiritual resolve. She would always question others when a loved one died with: “Are you certain there is another life?” One of my favorite poems of hers is: “It’s not that bad things could be worse, tomorrow will be better, just keep trying something good will happen.” 

French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal tried to write a book about the ultimate defense of Christianity, but he never finished it. Dickinson followed Pascal’s way of thinking by saying that “believing in God is like casting bets and choosing sides.” Emily tries to go back to her faith by saying that “Jesus asks for her love just like Simon Peter did after the resurrection. 

The further Emily got away from God, the larger the light shone calling her back such as the poem “Let redemption find you as it certainly will.” One thing that I did not know was that Emily never married, but she did give her heart at least to one man in her letters that she referred to as “Master.” 

Emily learned a lot from Reverend Issac Watts who wrote: Bay Psalm Book because she knew about a wealth of rhythms to use in her poems such as the common meter, Psalm meter, short meter and long meter which allowed for longer stanzas and cycle patterns. Dickinson was a very accomplished musician before she stopped attending church and she would play hymns for her father and guests. Her cousins one said: “let Emily sing for you because she cannot pray.”

Emily uses Jesus twenty times in her poems, Christ ten and Jesus Christ once. She says in one of her poems: “I am Jesus, late of Judea, now of paradise.” She saw Jesus as a sufferer, the one who trod before us in the way of grief and death. 

Dickinson uses her own poems about Jesus’s cross to understand her own suffering with: “Jesus, thy crucifix, enable thee to guess the smaller size.” She is referring to herself as the smaller size. LeMay keeps the readers interested by mentioning Dickinson’s poems about God. She believes that God is lost and we must find him such as this poem: “The infinite a sudden guest has been assumed to be, but how can that stupendous come which never went away?” That poem is strictly for those who are trying to seek God, but in reality, he is there all along. 

The crucifixion chapter is all about saving, but Emily questioned her belief with “how can one death save anyone and is God’s love adversary?” Emily never accepted systematic answers found in Christian doctrine and theology even when preachers told her about the crucifixion. 

Her poem about death is actually about life since much of the events of Good Friday are transformed on Easter Sunday when Mary Magdalene meets Christ beside the tomb. “Builds like a bird too, Christ robs the nest, robin after robin smuggled to rest.” 

In the 1870’s, Emily withdrew from town life and many of her friends gently teased her as the “Queen Recluse.” LeMay calls it self-seclusion because she limited her outings and encounters. Emily secluded herself because she wanted to engage life more deeply. Her poems: The Soul that had a Guest, Doth Seldom go Abroad and Obliterate the Need all had to do about life and being secluded. 

The last chapter reflects about beauty. Her mother and sister have died and she said: “Take all away from me, but leave me Ecstasy.” Emily Dickinson died in 1886 and wrote nearly 1,800 poems.

If you are interested in learning about Emily Dickinson and her Christian-themed poems, then I suggest you stop by the Union Parish Library and check out I told my soul to sing: finding God with Emily Dickinson. That particular book is featured in our Union Parish Library theme for Celebrate National Poetry Month. It will leave you with a feeling of curiosity as you come to know Emily Dickinson’s way of poetry writing.

According to earth day, Earth Day Network’s mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. The Earth Day Network is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement since it works with more than 75,000 partners in nearly 192 countries to build environmental democracy awareness. More than 1-billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year making it the largest civil observance in the world.

The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the environmental movement. Earth Day went global twenty years later which mobilized 200 million people in more than 190 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. 

Earth Day is a wonderful opportunity to educate library patrons about environmental issues and will showcase important topics such as beekeeping to playing enlightening films for guests. Patrons need to be reminded about how their library helps the environment especially when it comes to reducing, reusing and recycling. 

The Union Parish Library celebrated Earth Days with our preschool story time on Monday, April 8. Bernice Head Start came by the Union Parish Library to learn about Earth Day and how to properly care for the planet. 

Betty Frazier read to the Bernice Head Start students a children’s book titled: Go Green for Earth Day and Fancy Nancy: Every Day is Earth Day. They also took part in a craft called rubbing art. According to Brittanica, rubbing art is the most universal and perhaps the oldest of the techniques used in printmaking. Rubbings are made by carefully pressing paper onto a carved or split surface so that the paper conforms to the features to be copied. The paper is then blacked and the projecting areas of the surface become dark while intended areas remain white. 

The Bernice Head Start also got a visit from the book bunny where the students and employees of the Union Parish Library got their picture taken and the Bernice Head Start also received a copy of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss to add to their school library. 

Earth Days at the Union Parish Library have showed your preschooler the best ways to appreciate the Earth’s environment and you will also know the true meaning of Earth Day thanks to the Union Parish Library. 

According to library guides, libraries have employees that catalog books which involves numerous interrelated processes thanks to Charles Ammi Cutter who wrote Rules for a Dictionary Catalog in 1876. That enabled a person to find a book by looking for the author, title or subject because it shows what the library has. Catalogers prepare a description of an item, assign subject headings, determine a shelf location by using a classification system such as providing a link to the electronic item if appropriate. 

The Union Parish Library has a cataloger that does all of those things and her name is Diane Dredd. Dredd is originally from Spearsville and now lives in Ruston, Louisiana and she lists enjoying her grandkids, lending a helping hand at church and shopping as her main hobbies. Dredd is married to the newly elected pastor at Fellowship Baptist Church in Simsboro. Her husband recently preached at a church in El Dorado for 34 years. She also has 4 girls, 1 son, 1 granddaughter and 4 grandsons. 

Christian-fiction is a favorite genre of hers to read and her favorite author is Kendra Norman Bellamy who wrote Because of Grace which is about a doctor named Gregory Dixon whose good life suddenly turns bad and he has to make a choice about what to do with it. She also remembers as a child that her favorite books were The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and nursery rhymes. Each employee can still remember their favorite book they read as a child and that is what makes them love reading so much today!

As part of her duties at the Union Parish Library, Dredd catalogs audios, books and DVD’s by placing a classification label and number on them so patrons can easily find them in the online card catalog and in the library. 

If you ask her why she likes working at the library, she will say “making sure the books are cataloged correctly so that the patrons can check them out. You will agree once you visit our library and notice how organized every audio, book and DVD is. Before Dredd worked at the library, she worked at the Farmerville High School in the computer lab. 

Dredd has been working at the Union Parish Library for seventeen years and I first remember seeing her when she checked out my books when I was a teenager. She does such a wonderful job cataloging the audios, books and DVD’s for the Union Parish Library so please stop by and tell Diane Dredd hello!

According to fashion eyeglass world, the average mass paperback book is printed using a 10-point font. Most of us live with the challenge of reading small print, but there are other alternatives out there. If you have low vision disability, visual impairment or even dyslexia, then you will benefit from finding large print alternatives. Reading large print allows the eyes to relax which reduces eye strain. Eye strain can be linked to symptoms such as headaches, red eye and dry eye.

Are you interested in reading large print books because you had eye strain or just wanted to try something new? If you did then, I suggest you take a look at the large print books at the Union Parish Library. 

They have 198 large print fiction books from authors like John Grisham who wrote The King of Torts and 2 juvenile large print fiction books from authors like Margaret Peterson Haddix who wrote Sabotaged. There is also 113 large print fiction, 112 large print type, 37 large print western, 22 large print mystery, 7 large print edition and 3 large print fiction. 

According to Cengage, most large print books published today are reprints of bestselling popular and classic books. Numerous educators which includes librarians say that the content in those books are more apt to hold a readers’ attention. Thorndike Press is the publisher of large print books in Waterville, Maine and has been in the printing business for more than 30 years. 

More than 100 large print titles are published every month. Thorndike Press supports reading levels from the fourth grade on. Gale, a Cengage Company acquired Thorndike Press in 1999. Gale continues to serve the world’s information and education needs through its vast and sophisticated content pools which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the internet.

Numerous libraries nationwide enjoyed a modest overall growth of ten percent in 2013 since most large print sections with titles contain similar design covers and dates of publication as regular print books. Seventy-three percent of library users surveyed recently indicated they visit libraries to borrow print books or browse numerous book shelves.

Research suggests that large print increases: reading, fluency, reading comprehension, academic achievement, disability rehabilitation and helps calm the nerves. Libraries according to Publishers Weekly are the core buyers of large print titles and librarians responsible for purchasing large print young adult books found primary demand for these titles comes directly from adults.

According to goodreads, there are fifty popular large print books that people love to read, but I picked fifteen that I thought were the most unique.  The Light Between Oceans (2012) was written by M.L. Stedman which is the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife. Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks tells the story of a young man from Martha’s Vineyard being the first Native American to graduate from college.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine which is written by Gail Honeyman and tells the story of Eleanor Oliphant who struggles with social skills. News of the World (2016) by Paulette Jiles tells the story of an aging news reader agreeing to transport a captive of the Kiowa back to her people. 

The Wonder (2016) by Emma Donoghue is the story of an English nurse, Lib Wright who goes to a tiny village to visit a girl who has survived without food for weeks. The Confession (2010) by John Grisham tells the story about an innocent man who is about to be executed and only a guilty man can save him!

The Inn at Rose Harbor (2012) by Debbie Macomber will take readers to Jo Marie Barlow who is looking to find peace. Winter in Paradise (2018) tells the story about a woman named Irene who receives a frantic phone call about her husband. 

Past Tense(2018) by Lee Child tells the story of Jack Reacher who plans to take a road trip across America. Dark Sacred Night (2018) by Michael Connelly does a good job describing how LAPD Detective Renee Ballard teams up with another detective to solve a cold case.

Us Against You (2017) by Frederik Bachman is a story about a young hockey team being disbanded. Two Little Girls in Blue (2006) by Mary Higgins Clark is about a mother searching for her kidnapped child. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994) by John Berendt is about a murder happening in Savannah, Georgia. 

The Red Tent (1997) by Anita Diamant tells the story of Dinah from the book of Genesis. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer which is about a blind French girl and German boy whose paths collide in occupied France during World War II. 

If you are interested in reading any of the large print fiction books that I mentioned, I suggest stopping by the Union Parish Library and check out one! These books will leave you with a feeling of calm and serenity as you select your favorite genres of romance, mystery or western!